Birrin
The Birrin are a sentient hexapod (six limbed) species native to planet Chriirah. They are an egg laying species, and clutches typically contain 3 or 4 eggs which hatch within days of each other to reveal small, hungry and fuzzy chicks. Heavy Birrin industrialization in the 2nd and 1st centuries AR led to rising sea levels and pollutants in the atmosphere leading to a mass extinction and the death and displacement of billions of Birrin, leading to a dark age. Biology: The Birrin are a sapient hexapod (six limbed) species from a planet approximately the size of Venus. They are approximately 2 meters tall. The Birrin are an egg laying species, and clutches typically contain 3 or 4 eggs which hatch within days of each other to reveal small, hungry and fuzzy chicks. The young birrin have several adaptations evolved to aid their survival in the humid and life filled swamps in which the species first evolved. The short hair covering their small bodies is a dense mat of fibres designed to keep the myriad nest parasites from gaining access to their skin, while the conspicuous stripes allow birrin parents to immediately locate their young on foraging trips. This fur, while useful, poses an overheating problem in the tropical climate and so the undersides of the large dorsal ‘wings’ are highly vascular and by holding them out from the body the young can cool themselves. The fur is shed in stages, first falling away from the lower limbs to prevent mud from the wet forest floor fouling the fibres. The other major adaptation youthful birrin possess are large patterned plate-like growths around the base of each eye stalk, and covering part of the breathing apparatus: These plates not only help deny access to certain parasites but are also used to elicit feeding behaviour from the adults when displayed around the open mouth. Most modern Birrin, having long since industrialized, rarely brood traditionally but often use communal incubators or hired nannies to warm eggs during gestation. Indeed the fur, once useful for parasite control, is now a hindrance in the hot modern climate of Chriirah and in some regions is shaved off soon after birth to keep the chicks cool. Many Birrin, being pleasurably susceptible to many of the psychoactive defence compounds found in their planets’ plants, have developed complex rituals around recreational drug use. The Birrin are at home in water, and many engage in swimming recreationally with or without the aid of SCUBA systems. History: See also: Timeline of Birrin History Access to space has been achieved twice in Birrin history. In the first age rocket technology advanced so far as to allow several moon landings and the construction of space stations, the remains of many still orbiting Chriirah in the modern era several thousand years later. Born in an age of exceptional technological complexity and profligate resource exploitation, Spear was the first Birrin attempt to send a vehicle of any kind to another solar system. Powered by nuclear fusion and cooled by banks of enormous radiators, the intelligent and self-sufficient machine even now represents the most costly and complex undertaking of any Birrin age. The extraordinary expense of the vehicle’s development was shouldered by a multi-national interhouse consortium so extensive that organizations from every continent found themselves contributing. Components were shipped and flown from all over the world to the equator, from where thunderous nuclear rockets catapulted them into orbit. After half a century Spear, finally complete, undertook a long range shakedown tour of the solar system, flying deep into the realm of the outer planets. As it slowly returned in-system, however, the scale of the exponentially ascending Birrin civilisation began to terminally overtax the planet. Crop failures, famines and coastal flooding lead to regional wars and ethnic cleansing on a scale never before seen, and what little food remained was sequestered by the most able houses. Meanwhile Spear, all this time arcing closer to home, was supposed to be captured, fueled, and sent on its mission to a nearby star. As the recovery team prepared to leave orbit, a coalition of minor houses left starving by the major powers launched a salvo of warheads. Bursting into clouds of metal spheres, they tore through the delicate vehicles and their crews at orbital speeds. As Spear fell past uncaptured, the response by the wealthy stakeholders was swift: Invading with full force, the punitive occupation quickly became culling, and Birrin society rapidly degenerated into a war so total civilisation would not recover to a semblance of its former complexity for over a thousand years. Through all this, Spear, pocked by minor impacts and long silent, swung through space in its vast and ever changing ellipse. The effects of this fall are clear: Birrin civilization, once united, is divided, and technological advancement ranges from basic space flight in some nations to primitive spearfishing in others. Part of this is the geographical divide that splits the planet at the equator (see Geography). After the collapse of Pre-Fall Birrin civilization, a period of dark ages sprung up. Not much is known about this time, but Birrin civilization slowly regained its lost technology, progressing as though it had suffered a history reset. The second, post war age eventually saw a return of Birrin rocketry, mostly reverse engineered from rediscovered ancient designs. With the expanding need for communication, navigational and military satellites many launch systems were developed, though few approached the versatility of the Tallantelli (see Birrin Air and Space Craft).